It is known to use ultraviolet (UV) radiation in disinfection systems for use in the cleaning up of water. The UV radiation acts to kill bacteria and germs.
Known systems employ microwave energy to excite the source of UV radiation. One problem with such systems is that it is difficult to efficiently provide sufficient excitation energy to the UV source and difficult to effectively transfer that energy to the water to be treated. It is, therefore, difficult to arrange apparatus for high throughput industrial water treatment purposes.
There is now described a water disinfection apparatus that enables efficient, high throughput UV water disinfection treatment to be conducted. The apparatus comprises plural ultraviolet light sources, each of which comprises a UV lamp that is excited by a microwave energy source; and a channel for channeling water past the UV lamp. The UV lamp is arranged perpendicular to the water flow and is suitably enclosed by a waveguide comprising UV transparent material.
The water disinfection apparatus of the present invention have been found to provide enhanced efficacy (e.g., enhanced water disinfecting capability) and lower operational costs.